Love Found in the Oddest of Circumstances
by midnightwolf92
Summary: Rune and Tiffany are mercenaries from totally different kinds of ships trapped together on a strange planet. Can they manage to work together and survive long enough to get help? RuneXOC Spawned from: Mercenaries by Angela Knight Read&Review Please!
1. Chapter 1

**Claiming Duel**

"C'mon just a little to the left" Rune coaxed to his enemy as he watched the enemy pod move around on his screen just outside of the Lock-On zone.

Tiffany knew she couldn't hold this guy off for much longer. He was a good pilot and her starboard engine was only partially functioning. "Try this on for size, jackass" and she flipped the yellow switch to release the pod's Distraction Shrapnels.

"Shit!" Rune sent the pod spiraling away from the scrap metal the enemy had just released. His screen showed a flashing red image of his port wing. Basically there was nothing left of it which made straightening the pod out difficult. Difficult but not impossible. "Oh no you don't" Rune said as he carefully steered the pod to follow the enemy who had sustained enough damage to decide to land on the nearby planet of Drakana. He locked-on the enemy and shot a Tach Pulse, neutralizing all electronic devices of his and the enemies. That way he couldn't kill Rune with some cowardly blaster.

"Fuck!" He had hit her with a Tach Pulse the stupid bastard! Oh he had a lot of nerve! Tiffany braced herself just before the pod hit ground hard and slid for almost a mile before coming to a sighed in relief. She checked to make sure all her knives were in place on her back before climbing out of the small craft. Just as her feet touched ground, she saw the enemy pod hit ground hard. It rolled twice before landing right side up a few hundred feet away. Tiffany reached back and tied up her long blonde hair into a high ponytail. "Maybe he broke his neck" she said to herself hopefully.

But her hope was in vain as Rune jumped to the ground. The enemy pilot was a woman! He had heard of women pilots before but had never seen one. Women were not fighters on The Conquest. He stayed by his ship to observe her as she approached him slowly. Her fair blonde hair was long and thick and looked like smooth silk. Her skin was the same way: fair and smooth. But her eyes said otherwise about her personality. They were a brilliant icy blue and the expression in them was much like ice at the moment: cold and collecting.

Every mercenary had computer implants and right now her implants were telling her that he was an enemy to be reckoned with. Not that she needed implants to tell her that. At six feet five inches and large defined muscles covered in skin tight heat-resistant armor, Rune knew he looked intimidating.

He watched her hips sway rhythmically as she approached and knew what he must do. There was no way this woman wouldn't be prosperous for The Conquest. Now all he had to do was get her there. But could he turn her in to be a Breeder? He had always felt that the Breeders and the all the women really were treated unfairly. But now was not the time to dwell on all this.

Tiffany halted about ten feet from the handsomest and most gorgeous man she had ever laid eyes on. God he was beautiful. Strong jaw, tanned skin, dark short, thick hair, tall, muscular... everything she craved in a man. And his eyes were like an ocean at night beneath moonlight. The dark blue was almost black but not quite. But none of this mattered. He was the enemy. "Alright stud lets get this over with shall we?" she said nonchalantly as she lazily unsheathed the knives from the holsters across her back.

"I challenge you to a Claiming Duel, beautiful." This way if he won he kind of owned her. He could control what happened to her somewhat aboard The Conquest.

What the fuck was a Claiming Duel? Oh well. She wasn't planning on losing so it wasn't like it mattered. "Yeah whatever. So come on big boy. Gimme your best shot" she coaxed.

Rune grinned. Oh he'd give her his best all right. He pulled a knife from his boot and they began to circle one another.

Tiffany made the first move. She leaped and pretended to aim for his shoulders but at the last second, aimed for his legs. Rune jumped to the side and grabbed her around the neck in a head lock. "Not bad for a woman." It was actually rather sexy. He found that surprising. "You'll find Im full of surprises" she muttered before flipping him over her head and onto his back. Rune knew she must have used a boost of energy from her implants to pull that stunt since he weighed almost twice what she did. Tiffany had sacrificed her grip on one of her knives to pull that off so she only had one at his throat when she straddled him. Desire flared in them both but they ignored it. Now was most definitely not the time. Rune grabbed her wrist and squeezed until she gasped and dropped the knife. He rolled her off of him onto her back and flipped her over onto her belly before she could even blink. He pinned her arms behind her back and laid most of his weight on her to be sure she couldn't escape. "Why do you bother with fighting when you're as beautiful as you are?" Rune asked curiously.

"It's what I'm good at. Now are you gonna kill me or not?" she asked impatiently. "No." His answer was so blunt it startled her. "Why so surprised?" "Well you didn't seem to have a problem with killing me when we were flying." Rune smiled slightly. "That was before I saw how beautiful you are." "So what do you want then? To rape me?" Rune's mouth fell into a grim line. "No. I'm not a rapist." "Then what the fuck do you want?!" This guy was really starting to irritate her.

"I won the Claiming Duel. You belong to me now." "Whoa whoa whoa! Slow down big boy! I don't belong to anyone. Besides I didn't know what a Claiming Duel was." "Well it's not my fault you agreed to it without asking what it was." "Maybe we could come to some sort of compromise." Tiffany knew she wouldn't be able to get him off of her by struggling. That would be a waste of energy she made need later so she didn't bother. So far he didn't act like he would try to take advantage of her so maybe he could be reasoned with and they could both walk away from this satisfied. "Why would I want to compromise? What's in it for me?" "I don't know but we could talk and figure something out." Rune frowned as he considered this.

He didn't have much time to dwell on it before he heard a strange growling sound. Rune looked to the right and became two shades whiter. "What the hell?!" Rune leaped up, grabbed the woman by the arm and hauled onto her feet and ran like hell for his ship.

* * *

Sorry about all the cursing everyone! I promise there won't be near as much later this was the worst chapter. There's hardly any after this =) Sorry! And don't forget to review! Reviews are awesome even if all you say is "I like it!" or "I hate it!" or whatever! =)


	2. Chapter 2

**Compromise**

"If you hadn't shot me with a Tach Pulse I could've killed these stupid things with my blaster." Tiffany accused from her perch on his lap. "Well how was I supposed to know there were strange half-bear half-tiger animals on this planet?" Rune snapped back. "Well maaayybe if you had done a little reading...?" Tiffany suggest sarcastically. Rune just rolled his eyes.

He could feel her stiffen as the beasts rocked the ship from side to side. "I'm Rune. Rune Artigo." She looked at him and smiled slightly. Rune. She liked it. "Tiffany Mitchell." Tiff jumped as one of the creatures began to claw at the roof of the pod. Rune tightened an arm around her waist protectively.

"I defend my own, Tiffany. I'll die protecting you if I have to." Tiffany looked at him utterly shocked. "You're serious aren't you." Rune merely nodded once. "Man you're weird." Rune frowned. "Why is that weird?" He looked truly curious so Tiff felt obligated to answer. "Well it's just rare to find a guy that would actually protect me after knowing me for only an hour. Most men would throw me out there to try and distract the creatures to save his their own asses. And here you are saying you'll die for me. It's just not what I'm used to." Rune understood and said nothing more about it.

"So while we're waiting for these things to go away, why don't we talk about a compromise?" Tiff suggested. Rune sighed. "I suppose we could try." "I have a way to get contact out to one or both of our ships. So if you help me fix it we can go our separate ways." "Well whats in it for me?" "I'll let you use my transmitter to contact your ship rather then abandoning you here." "Or I could tie you up and take the transmitter." "Look lets be serious. You know I'm not going to become some kind of toy willingly. I'd be a constant headache and I'd hate you forever and you don't seem like you'd want that." Rune sighed. "All right. I'll nullify the Claiming Duel and we can help each other get off this hellhole." Tiffany smiled and kissed his cheek. Rune just grinned.

--

"We need to find a water source. Then we can worry about the transmitter." Tiffany nodded in agreement. The creatures had finally given up so Tiffany and Rune headed into the forest in search for water. They walked through the vegetation hoping that the thicker it got, the closer they were to water.

Rune kept glancing at Tiffany worriedly. Her cheeks were flaming red and her face was looking pale. Her neck was drenched in sweat with her ponytail sticking to it in places and she hadn't spoken a word for forty-five minutes.

Fortunately, it was only another ten minutes before they discovered a large waterfall that fed a shallow river. The river was shoulder height for Tiffany and about fifty feet wide. Neither one of them wasted any time in stripping off their armor and wading into the river.

Of course Rune couldn't help but watch her and regret nullifying the Claiming Duel. She was everything he had ever wanted. And he wasn't just talking about her body. She was honest and strong but she didn't mind being taken care of either. She had determination and a stubbornness to her that made him smile. "So what made you start flying?" He asked. She continued to bathe herself un-embarrassed as she spoke. "Ever since I was little I was fascinated with flight. I didn't have any parents so when I turned 18 I signed on with Captain August and I've been on the Starrunner ever since."

So she was an orphan just like him. She knew what it felt like to have only your friends as family. But even so he had always felt like he was different than his Wing Brothers. Rune had always respected women. He had never had sex with a woman without her consent. His Wing Brothers couldn't say that. And Rune had always desired someone more like Tiffany rather than a weak submissive woman. He wanted a fighter.

"Rune? You okay?" Rune snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Tiffany. "Yeah. I was just thinking." Tiffany smiled and started to walk towards him slowly. "What?" Tiff only grinned in response. She came up to him, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Rune was stunned but he wasn't about to waste this opportunity either. He kissed her back and carried her over to the shore. Tiffany smiled and kissed his jaw-line. He could pick her up. That was a plus.

--

Tiff sighed in satisfaction. She could feel the cool water on her legs and Rune's warm body next to her. Rune smiled. Apparently he wasn't the only one who hadn't had a partner in a while. But he was proud that he was able to satisfy her since she had warned him that only one other could. Apparently she and Captain Nathan August had been friends with benefits before August married.

They had a short nap before they ventured out for food. Rune killed two rabbit-like creatures and Tiffany found a bunch of apples and bananas.

It was after dinner that they began to realize they were being watched. But they hadn't realized there were so many. Thirty natives dressed in similar armor to their own, closed in on them at once. Rune and Tiff tried to put up a fight but there was just too many. Their wrists were tied with thin but incredibly strong cords. Cords that not even their enhanced strength could break.

It was an hour and a half before they came upon a city. Rune and Tiffany didn't see much of it since they were immediately led to a small building and thrown in an iron cell. But what they had seen didn't seem very advanced.

As soon as they were alone Tiffany unsnapped a layer of her wrist guard and handed it to Rune. "Here. This is the transmitter. It'll become larger so you can snap it on your wrist when you're not working on it." Rune nodded and took a look at it. "I think I can fix it. But it'll take some time since I have no tools to help me."

Tiffany sighed tiredly and laid her head on his shoulder. Rune smiled. "Lets try to get some sleep. You never know what we may need the energy for." Tiffany nodded and laid down. Rune laid down beside her and she snuggled up to his side with her head on his chest. Rune could feel it. She belonged there beside him.


End file.
